It's time for some Canadian music

Lately, I feel like I've been neglecting the talent of my home country. Don't worry Canada, I haven't forgotten about you. I've received many promos regarding new Canadian artists that I've been meaning to blog about but have never gotten around to it until now. So I've put together a list of the top 5 Canadian artists I've been introduced to this month.

Numero un: Said the Whale*
From Where: Vancouver, BC (represent!)
Songs to listen to: This City's a Mess, Puddleglum
Album: Howe Sounds/Taking Abalonia
Label: Pop Machine
Sounds like: West Coast version of Broken Social Scene
Video: This City's a Mess


Numero deux: The D'urbervilles*
From Where: Toronto, ON
Songs to listen to: The Receiver, Hot Tips
Album: We are the hunters
Label: Out of this Spark
Sounds like: Interpol on uppers

Numero trois: The Rural Alberta Advantage
From Where: Alberta
Song to listen to: Frank, AB
Album: Hometowns
Label: Unsigned
Sounds like: Rocky Mountain rock

Numero quatre: Gentleman Reg
From Where: Toronto, ON
Song to listen to: We're in a Thunderstorm
Album: Jet Black
Label: Arts & Crafts
Sounds like: Night Songs
Video: Over My Head


Numero cinq: Fake Shark-Real Zombie*
From Where: Vancouver, BC (yeaaaaaaaaa)
Songs to listen to: Sour Times, Angel Dust
Album: Zebra! Zebra!
Label: Unsigned
Sounds like: Intense acid rock/metal

*Info and downloads for Said the Whale, The D'urbervilles and Fake Shark-Real Zombie are courtesy of The MuseBox

Polaris Music Prize Finalists

The Polaris Music Prize is a $20,000 reward to the best Canadian album of the year (disregarding record sales). The jury consists of 178 people who are either journalists, broadcasters, programmers or bloggers (how I wish I was on that jury). They started with a long list of 40 artists and have narrowed it down to 10 finalists. The finalists seem to mainly come from the East but there is one band from Vancouver (Black Mountain) and one from Winnipeg (The Weakerthans). I have comprised an ordered list of who I think is the worthiest.

1. Plants and Animals - Parc Avenue (Montréal, QC)
2. Basia Bulat - Oh, My Darling (London, ON)
3. Stars - In Our Bedroom after the War (Montréal, QC)
4. Caribou - Andorra (Dundas, ON)
5. Kathleen Edwards - Asking for Flowers (Ottawa, ON)
6. Black Mountain - In the Future (Vancouver, BC)
7. Shad - The Old Prince (London, ON) <-- This is hip-hop (omg)
8. Holy Fuck - LP (Toronto, ON)
9. The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour (Winnipeg, MB)
10. Two Hours of Traffic - Little Jabs (Charlottetown, PEI)

Ok, so Plants and Animals win it in my books.

But you should check out these artists. I've posted a song from each of the top five albums I've chosen

Plants and Animals - Bye Bye Bye
Basia Bulat - Snakes and Ladders
Stars - Take me to the riot
Caribou - Melody Day
Kathleen Edwards - Buffalo